Hold You
by foreverstartsrightnow
Summary: August stays with Emma in the nights after her abduction by Jefferson. Written for a prompt at the SwanBoothKink community on LJ. Will be 3 chapters.
1. Night One

**Pairing:** Emma/August

**Rating:** T

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing related to Once Upon a Time or Ray LaMontagne

**A/N:** This took a ridiculously long time for me to write. It's also pretty different for me stylistically, but I like how it turned out. The title comes from "Hold You In My Arms" by Ray LaMontagne. It strangely fits the story perfectly so go listen to it. And as always, thanks to snarkysweetness for the encouragement.

* * *

She shouldn't be here. She should be in her apartment, in her bed. It's late. There's no light spilling between the cracks in the doorframe and she shouldn't be supporting herself against the jamb, shouldn't be raising her fist to knock. But she does firmly, three times. She can't go back to her apartment. Laying there in the dark alone and jumping at every noise was too much for her to handle. So she came here. And she knocked. And she waited.

August opened the door groggily. He wore only a pair of flannel pajama pants and Emma couldn't help but glance several times down at his bare upper body while he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. But now was not the time to notice his toned arms and abs nor was it the time to need to resist the urge to run her hands across the smattering of hair on his chest. Now was not the time to admit to herself that she was maybe more than just a little attracted to him.

"Emma?"

"I'm sorry to wake you… can I come in?"

"Yeah, of course."

She stepped into the darkened room and paced nervously around as he closed the door quietly.

"Emma, what's going on?"

"Can I… stay with you tonight?"

"What? Why?"

"I can't be alone, I can't…" she dissolved into a trembling mess, using the desk for support. She'd gotten through Mary Margaret's arraignment and the rest of the day without focusing on the their kidnapping, but when she lay down to sleep, all she could see were the cold eyes of the crazed man who held them captive, the man who drugged her and held a gun to her head.

August took her by the shoulders firmly and made her look at him. "Emma, what is wrong?"

"Please just let me stay here…"

"Of course you can stay, but you have to tell me why."

"Okay… you can't speak a word of this to anyone, do you understand? I need to know I can trust you."

"You can always trust me."

After August guided her to the bed and sat her down, Emma recounted the events of the previous night and managed to keep it mostly together… until the part where Jefferson miraculously got away. Tears began to flow before she knew they were coming, and August wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her to his chest.

"You have to get a warrant for his arrest, Emma. You can't let him stay on the loose."

"But if I do, then everyone will find out about Mary Margaret escaping, she'll have more charges laid against her and on top of all that, everyone will assume that she's guilty! I can't do that to her!" She choked on a sob and looked up at him pleadingly. "And the worst part is that he _knows_ that I can't do anything about it."

He looked at her pensively for a moment, trying to process weight of her words. "Then I want you to stay here until this whole mess is sorted out. If he's been watching you since you came to town and has a telescope pointed directly at your office, then he probably knows where you live, too. We'll deal with him after Mary Margaret's acquittal."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. As long as you don't mind a little drool."

She laughed and gazed up at him. "I don't mind."

"Okay, then," he affirmed softly and studied her face as he wiped the streaks of tears from her cheeks with his thumbs. "Let's get to bed, then, huh?"

"Wait, I didn't bring anything to wear…"

"Just sleep in your underwear tonight," he said with a shrug.

"August!"

"Calm down, I promise not to look. And I will also try not to touch you, but to be honest, it's gonna be hard in this little bed."

Emma deliberated a minute before agreeing. She made him turn around while she removed her jeans and crawled under the covers. He slipped in after and they spent several minutes trying to find a position that suited them both. They finally settled on their sides, with Emma facing the wall and August at her back. He seemed unsure of where to put his arm, so she grabbed his hand and pulled it around her midsection.

"Just try not to get frisky."

"Never…" he whispered behind her, "Goodnight, Emma."

In any other state of mind, this might have caused her stomach to flutter, but as she was already half asleep, his voice only carried her deeper into unconsciousness.

* * *

Waking well rested but stiff, it took her a second to remember where she was. She was in the same position in which she'd fallen asleep, the only differences now were that her back had been pulled flush to August's chest and his face was nestled in the crook of her neck. Although she knew that getting up to go home and change before heading to work should be her top priority, she allowed herself to lie contentedly in his arms until he began to stir.

She didn't think to ask him to close his eyes this time, and after she finished pulling her jeans up and buttoning the fly, she turned to find him staring up at her with a smirk on his face.

"What?"

"Nothing." The intensity of his gaze should have alarmed her. But instead his eyes were soft and warm and dazzlingly blue in the morning sunlight. "Do you want to go down and get some breakfast?"

"Sure."


	2. Night Two

**Pairing:** Emma/August

**Rating:** T

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing related to Once Upon a Time

**A/N:** Poor August.

* * *

_This was impossible. She couldn't be back in that house, couldn't be feeling his arms around her waist, dragging her along. She couldn't be feeling his breath prickle her skin._

_How could she be so careless to end up here again? And how is he standing over her, staring down at her with that cold, calculating glare?_

_But this time she knew better. She knew how to fight him. So she lashed out, she kicked and screamed and swatted at him with her fingernails._

"_Emma, stop!"_

_She landed a fist under his eye, causing him to reel back for a minute, but he lunged for her again, stronger and faster and more fiercely than she remembered the first time. She wrestled with him until her energy was nearly depleted. The world started to go black but she couldn't give up. She hadn't before and she wouldn't again. But she felt herself slipping, stumbling, pulling, breaking…_

"_Emma, wake up!"_

"It's me! It's August!"

"August?" She blinked her eyes open and looked around the dark room. The blankets were halfway to the floor, and she was sitting up with August clutching her elbows. "What happened?"

He took a deep breath and cautiously loosened his grip. "You were thrashing around and yelling. When I tried to wake you, you started kicking me and punched me in the face."

"Oh my god…" Her hand flew to his cheek, "I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay…" He winced in pain as she ran her thumb over the tender area. "You went through a traumatic experience. It's going to take a while to heal, especially knowing the guy is still out there." He smiled weakly and gazed into her eyes. "But as long as I'm with you, you don't have to be scared."

Leaning up, Emma placed a light kiss over the bruise forming on his cheek. She suddenly became aware of the intimate way in which their legs were entwined; then noticed that his hands had moved to support the small of her back; and finally, with a rush of heat to her stomach, she recognized the undeniable certainty that she wanted nothing more in this moment than to feel his lips against hers.

It was easier, perhaps more than it should have been, but all it took was the small tilt of her head and their mouths were a hairs-breath apart. He responded after a moment, perhaps to make sure she meant to be there, and his mouth opened to hers in an electric kiss that made her immediately forget her dream, forget the madman in a huge house on the hill, forget feeling helpless and overpowered.

He laid her down gently and continued to kiss her tenderly, his hands roaming up the length of her back. Soon the lure of sleep returned and she broke away in a haze to nestle her head under his chin. The last sensations she could recall before slipping back into sleep were his arms circling her shoulders and his lips pressed soothingly against her temple.

* * *

She woke with August having rolled onto his back at some point in the night and pulled her up halfway on top of him. She liked the way she fit against his chest and hummed happily as she snuggled into him. But something was nagging at the back of her mind that she couldn't let go of. It was so easy and comfortable with him; she delighted in waking up in his bed and felt a sense of belonging with him that she'd only ever experienced with Mary Margaret and Henry. It had taken all of her effort to learn to love them, and the possibility that those same feeling stirred in her heart for August was more than she could handle with everything else going on.

"You awake?" He croaked and moved his hands to stroke her hair. She nodded. "Good."

"Listen… about last night… I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it… It's not the first shiner I've ever had and I doubt it will be the last," he chuckled. "My mouth tends to get me in trouble."

"Why does that not surprise me?" She grinned up at him. His hand moved to her chin, holding her in place as he brought his face down for a kiss.

She shot back before their lips met and sat with a leg tucked under her on the edge of the bed. August sat up slowly. "What's wrong?"

Emma breathed heavily, her stomach tied in knots. The guilt over giving him a black eye was one thing, but what she was about to say had the possibility of hurting him much more. "I just… I shouldn't have kissed you last night. I'm sorry. I don't want you to get the wrong idea about our… arrangement." She spoke hurriedly and averted her eyes.

When she finally looked up at him, she was surprised to find him smiling.

"Emma… It's fine. I learned very shortly after I met you never to assume anything."

The rock in the pit of her stomach dissolved into a flurry of butterflies, and the overwhelming urge to lean over and kiss him for the rest of the morning startled her internally, but Emma couldn't go back on what she'd just said. Instead she smiled feebly and stood, bringing her overnight bag into the bathroom to get ready for work.


	3. Night Three

**Pairing:** Emma/August

**Rating:** T (non-explicit sexual imagery)

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing related to Once Upon a Time

**A/N:** This chapter took a lot of different forms, but I like the end result. And I hope you do as well.

* * *

She kept seeing him everywhere. But also didn't.

His face would bob amongst a crowd of people and then he was gone. She would look up from her lunch at Granny's to see him coming towards her on the other side of the glass door, and when she clenched her eyes shut and reopened them, it was Dr. Whale shaking the water from his umbrella instead. And when she walked alone in the hallway of the sheriff's station, she could have sworn she heard the click of someone else's heels echo behind her.

She couldn't tell Mary Margaret how deeply their abduction affected her. She couldn't let her feel responsible for getting her into that situation, for making her feel unsafe in the middle of the day. Not with the murder trial looming over both of their heads.

So she lay curled up with her knees pulled to her chest after bursting into August's room without a word and collapsing onto his bed. He came to sit behind her and rubbed her arm tentatively.

"Rough day?"

She turned to face him with red-rimmed eyes. "Got anything to drink?"

"Do you want a glass of water?"

"I was hoping for something a little stronger."

He smirked amusedly down at her. "Bourbon okay?"

Emma nodded and watched him walk over to the desk and lean down, reach into the bottom drawer, and pull out a half-full bottle of Maker's Mark and two glasses. Her eyes lingered on his backside for a little too long before she pulled herself up and joined him, leaning back against the desk.

"I hope you like it neat, because I'm not going downstairs to get ice." He smiled as he handed her a glass. She knocked the liquid back in one gulp and set it back on the desk.

"Again."

With the cock of his eyebrow, August poured her another and threw back his own, then gave himself a refill. She drank this one slower, watching his face intently.

"What?"

She set the glass down and traced the rim with her forefinger. "Nothing."

After the glasses had been filled and drained a third time, they lay in bed, close but not pressed together, with August's arm draped comfortably across her stomach.

Emma's mind whirled with the events of the day and the warmth of the alcohol. She turned her head up to look over her shoulder, still bleary-eyed.

"August?"

"Yeah?" He propped himself up on an elbow and looked down at her worriedly, eyes searching her face.

She reached up and pulled his mouth to hers, kissing him fiercly. "Help me forget today," she whimpered and twisted her upper body to gain a better angle, engulfing his mouth more fully.

"Emma," he uttered in a low voice after he pulled away and closed his eyes. "You're really giving me mixed signals here."

"I'm sorry." She fought to hold back tears that pricked the backs of her eyes.

"I can't read your mind. You have to tell me what you want."

"You." She pulled him back in for another kiss. "I want you."

"Are you sure?" He breathed against her lips.

"I am."

The frenzied nature of their kisses increased and Emma wriggled back until their hips were flush. His hand stroked down her stomach and thigh, then back up to snake under her tank top. "And you're not gonna wake up tomorrow and tell me it was a mistake?"

Emma inhaled abruptly as his rough fingers ignited the nerves of her sensitive flesh.

"No."

Their bodies worked together in unison, and each ebb and flow brought Emma closer to something greater than just physical release. She fought against the fluttering in her stomach at each gentle caress, each soft press of his lips on her skin (and the corresponding scratch of stubble), but it was when he whispered her name against her ear that she finally let herself go in a rush of indulgent abandon.

August didn't need to say anything as he pulled Emma against his chest; the message was well communicated. And while it scared her, it also made her heart feel more full than anything previously had in her life. She turned her head to kiss him once more and fell asleep cradled in his arms.

* * *

A hint of morning light peaked through the curtains and Emma knew returning to unconsciousness would not be an option. The only other sensation she was acutely aware of beside the pulse pounding intensely away in her brain, was August's breath hot and steady on her shoulder. Groaning, she took hold of the hand draped across her chest and moved it gingerly away as not to wake him, then sat up slowly and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She arched her back in a long stretch and rubbed her eyes.

After collecting the clothes that had found themselves discarded on the floor, she crept to the bathroom, pausing briefly in the doorway to watch August sleep. She dressed quietly but upon reentering the room, she found him awake with the side table lamp lit.

"I get it." He looked up at her with torment in his eyes. "You're hurt and you're scared and you're obviously confused… but dammit, Emma, your feelings aren't the only ones at stake, here."

Emma found herself unable to control the smile that broke across her face. "Oh, August, no." She moved quickly to the bed and sat on the edge, slipping a hand around the back of his head. She locked her eyes with his in a silent declaration, then kissed him firmly.

"So you're not leaving?"

"I wanted to go down and see if I can get some coffee even though it's kind of early. Three glasses of bourbon and I don't exactly get along." She leaned in to catch his lips again and pressed her forehead to his.

"You… are constantly surprising me," August admitted with a smirk.

"Good. I like to keep you on your toes. And besides…" Emma pulled away. She wanted him to be able to see her when she spoke, "…I want to do this right. And that means not running away immediately."

August cupped her face in his hands and ran his thumbs across her cheeks before leaning in to kiss her. "Get me one, too."

"You bet."

After closing the door behind her, Emma stood in the hall for a moment with her eyes shut and a hand clutching her chest. If this was falling in love, it was utterly terrifying… but for every wave of fear that washed over her, came an equally powerful sense of excitement.

She took a deep breath and headed for the stairs, suddenly feeling strong enough to face whatever enemy may lie in wait.


End file.
